AMBER LONDREE

IRON MOUNTAIN — A Kingsford woman will spend at least five years in prison for making methamphetamine with several co-defendants and then dumping the leftover hazardous waste near Cowboy Lake in Kingsford.

Amber Nicole Londree, 25, previously pleaded guilty in Dickinson County Circuit Court to felony operating or maintaining a laboratory involving hazardous waste as a habitual offender-second, meaning her maximum possible sentence is 30 years.

Manufacture is the worst meth offense because it makes all the others — delivery, possession and use — possible, Judge Mary Barglind said Monday at sentencing. Meth is killing young people in the community, she added, and harsh sentences such as Londree’s are necessary to help stop the problem.

A resident found Londree’s meth dump site March 10 and reported it to authorities.

Kingsford Public Safety officers interviewed Londree on March 19 and obtained a search warrant for a home on Cleveland Avenue she shared with 27-year-old Samantha Marie Matson, 54-year-old Robert Harold Anderson and 45-year-old Tracie Lynn Anderson.

Investigation revealed Londree and Matson had the Andersons, as well as 26-year-old Mariah Leigh VanPembrook of Kingsford, buy Sudafed so they could make meth. Londree admitted in court she made or assisted in making between 50 and 450 grams of meth between July 2017 and March.

Defense attorney Gregory Seibold last week contested the amount of meth Londree produced, as it would affect her Michigan sentencing guideline scoring range. But Londree said Monday she didn’t want a hearing on the issue because testimony would show she did produce between 50 and 450 grams.

Londree hasn’t tried to “play games” and readily admitted her wrongdoing to authorities, Seibold said. A shorter prison term would allow her to focus on rehabilitation, he added.

But Dickinson County Prosecutor Lisa Richards pointed out Londree’s actions of discarding hazardous waste in a public place put the entire community in danger.

Londree apologized to both court officials and the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team members who cleaned up the meth dump site.

Londree will receive credit for 85 days already served in the Dickinson County Jail. She also may have to pay restitution to UPSET for cleanup costs.

Matson, the Andersons and VanPembrook will be sentenced July 10.